10 bushfire tips to help protect your property assets

“However there is plenty we can do to ensure our homes are safe this bushfire season, whether we live on Sydney’s leafy north shore or near a major National Park,” he said.  

Here are Raine & Horne’s 10 tips to help protect your property from bushfires this summer:

1. Make sure you have at least one garden hose that reaches the perimeter of your property, and make sure all hoses and tap fittings are in good working order;
2. Contain recycled newspapers and cardboard in a safe place, as they are highly combustible if a bushfire strikes at your property;
3. Do the same for flammable liquids, gas bottles and paint. Do not store them close to your house, as these items can also fuel a fire;
4. Clean the gutters and other roof fittings of collected leaves and other garden flotsam and jetsam. Garden waste is extremely flammable when it dries out and is a magnet for flying embers;
5. Relocate your left over winter woodpile well away from the house, as it’s another fuel source for a bushfire;
6. Prune back your trees’ overhanging branches. Commission a gardener or arborist to do it if you cannot do it alone;
7. Keep the lawn trimmed and take a rake to any piles of leaves lying around. Dead leaves are a major hazard in a bushfire;
8. Take extra care when using a barbecue in blustery bushfire conditions;
9. If there is bushland or national parkland near your property, arrange with your local council to have a firebreak cleared or maintained; and
10. Share these tips with your neighbours. Talk to them about their plans and precautions for bushfire season, as you may find yourselves in the firing line together.